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i thought her name was rrrrebecca.

She badgered and drove a 70 year old man to tears. A 70 year old man that faced 2 life or death situations in the middle of the night at his home in less than three weeks. Rebecca Aguilar is a heartless ****.

It was a little strange how Aguilar got inside of his car door so the old man could not shut it. That made me uncomfortable.

But frankly, I see the point of her questions ... these were not home burglars who died, but junkyard burglars. Even if the man was within his rights shooting the men, does that make it morally right to kill over the theft of junk? Even the lives of meth-heads have some value. Call the cops next time, I say.

Finally, even if what Aguilar did was wrong, KDFW ratified her behavior by running the piece, so I think suspending her after the fact is unfair. My knowledge of local TV, however, is that the first time a TV reporter's work is seen by management is often when it first airs.

She should have been FIRED! I saw the video and was shocked at her behavior. Rebecca, you were trigger happy. Without ever talking to you I would say I'm pretty sure you are a Gun Hater. When a reporter makes themselves the story, it usually means they did something wrong. You should 'fess up to it, admit your wrong. I hope you call the Man you ambushed and apologize to him. And I hope you can really mean it too.

Incorrect, Pontificator. Mr. Walton happened to live at the business, so they were attacking his home too. And, he had tried calling the police... some 42 times. When the burglaries didn't stop, he was forced to take more direct action. As a result, the world is short two criminals, and he will likely not have as many issues in the future.

Hey Walt, do the DTs play tonight?

Perhaps she'd like to try that method on the kinds of animals who break into the homes and businesses of 70 year old men?

If she doesn't offer a "from the heart" apology to Mr. Walton then she should be doing something other than journalism.

Well Jim, to follow up on your points, did the burglars try to enter his living quarters or just stay in the junkyard looking for junk to steal? How big is the junkyard? I don't think it is as simple as, "I live in a junkyard, so if you trespass anywhere in my junkyard it is all right that I kill you." Legally all right, but perhaps not morally. This man should explore other living arrangements and perhaps buy some mean guard dogs.

Pontificator,

If you read the accompanying print article, you would know that Mr. Walton had made 40+ police calls about burglaries at his PLACE OF RESIDENCE.

It just so happens that AT HIS PLACE OF RESIDENCE he also does business and stores his PERSONAL BELONGINGS.

Apparently 40+ times the police were unable to do anything because they responded AFTER THE FACT.

So in essence you are saying that you don't have a right to protect your property. And you should call the police and hope they get there in time so they can catch the bad guys. And if they don't too bad if your stuff is stolen.

But regardless of the cause, what Mrs. Aguilar did was technically unlawful imprisonment. Mr. Walton was trapped in his vehicle. He could not leave, he could not escape because when she stood in the door like that he could not leave without harming her. There are several cases where someone blocking someones egress was grounds for this tortious act.

Mr. Aguilar is unprofessional, negligent and incredibly biased in this "hit-piece".

Slanting the "investigative reporting" (and I use that in the loosest sense) is one thing, but unlawful imprisonment of an elderly man who was defending his lively hood, that the police concurred with, shows exactly the kind of person she is.

Another option the old man could have tried instead of deadly force is an electric fence.

She's a journalist? Please! Rrrrebecca Ah-ge-lah is no more than a talking head.

Any time a man kills two people in a span of three weeks, it should never be treated as a "private" matter.

I do agree that Aguilar was trying to make a name for herself and stepped over the line, but local reports SHOULD be pushing the envelope when someone kills two others with the full protection of the law.

Ha ha, its funny to watch you gun nuts go crazy when someone mildly challenges you.

View the ambush here:
www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnZd-5dYXfk

Pontificator-

First, as far as I'm aware, electric fences are prohibited by code inside the City of Dallas. Regardless, the facility has large (8+ foot) fences all the way around. If they were able to climb such fences, do you think much more effort would be required to bring some gloves and bolt cutters along to disable an electric fence?

Yes, the suspects did make entry into the building where the owner lived. They were not merely out prowling in the junkyard - they came inside. Even if they were outside, in Texas, any crime occurring at night on one's property is justification for deadly force. The moral issues are not at question here. Mr. Walton took an action that is supported by the State of Texas and the laws under which it is governed. The moral implications are between him and whatever deity he might believe in.

If you believe that Mr. Walton was wrong morally - it's not your place to judge that. If you believe he was wrong criminally - also, not your place - that will be decided by a grand jury. If you believe he should have been wrong criminally, it is your option to work for more gun control legislation - or consider moving to a state like California, New York, or Illinois, where they have stronger gun controls (and, of course, a much lower rate of crime involving guns, right? Oh yeah, not really.)

Jeff W, hey, I don't know what universe you live in, but here on earth the law is supposed to protect the homeowner rather than the criminal.

Pontificator,

It won't be funny when you have to call 911 for an emergency and you get put on hold.

You make some valid points in what you SHOULD do. And I'd like to point out that Mr. Walten did exactly what you said he should of, 42 times. However after 42 times if it isn't working you need to change your approach, because IT IS NOT WORKING.

Now of course you can attempt to play the "moral high ground" and resort to ad hominen attempts to discredit dissenting view points by calling people "gun nuts" and implying they are "crazy".

But to do so only underscores out the short sidedness of your position and discredits your argument.

Sooo.... Pontiuspilificator,

If James Walton lived in a large Highland Park estate and two guys broke into the property to steal say, Golden Statues of James Walton, it would have been ok to shoot the burglars than say a rusty old transmission in a large junkyard?

I would think calling the police 42 times would be "another option the old man could have tried instead of deadly force" but after that became futile then what? Hurl painful insults at the burglars?

There is a definate moral line between killing and murdering. These burglars clearly crossed the line. The KILLING of the burglars was justified morally. After, setting up an alarm system with cameras and calling the Police several times, it can be determined that not only was he protecting his propery, Mr. Walton, who was at his home (no matter the size or economic value), was protecting innocent life, in this case his own. Morally Justifiable.

Ha ha, its funny to watch you Anti-gun nuts go crazy when someone mildly challenges you.

Was the story lousy? Yes. Is it typical of the way that Fox station has produced "news" for ages? Yes.

Why have we got the noose out for this reporter? She was probably on assignment. And the assignment probably went like: "Get this story." (You would 'think' someone who's man enough to shoot to kill - twice - would be man enough to answer a few questions.)

So why suspend her and not the person who told her to get the story or the person who ran the story? Why does anyone still watch that channel's "news"?

I don't understand how someone can't be morally justified in defending his life. What do you thing they would have done to a 70 year old man if he didn't have a gun. To me the moral justification was realized upon their entry into his home.

If you don't think he was morally justified then what would you have done after 42 calls to the PD?

Just as information for those who think Mr. Walton was wrong I would like to point out that in El Paso Texas this past Sunday 3 men broke into the home of a 70 year old man and stabbed him 3 times in the neck. Had Mr. Walton not availed himself of his natural and Constitutional Rights to defend himself he could very well be dead today. Remember people breaking into your business or home are not there to place mints on your pillow.

The Rebecca debacle is not about gun control or even whether the business owner did the right thing. It's about Rebecca's personality, viewer outcry, and a news director who doesn't like her.

In this case, Rebecca's trademark aggressiveness was misguided and over-the-top.

The worst thing I see here (as someone already mentioned) is that Rebecca is suspended after the fact. The story went on the air. Where were the managers who approve scripts? Was anyone else disciplined? I thought that news directors were supposed to stand behind their reporters. Viewers didn't like this story and rightly so, but Rebecca shouldn't have been thrown to the wolves, at least not alone.

Our personal feelings about Mr. Walton's actions and whether they were right or wrong are not the issue here. We were not there that morning, nor were we about to be victimized by a career criminal. He will be judged by a gran jury, and eventually the man upstairs.

What is at the center of this story is that Rebecca Aguilar lost her objectivity. A reporter, just like a police officer needs, and has to be objective. What she did to Mr. Walton is inexcusable. She let her personal feelings get in the way of her job. She has been a reporter for a long time, long enough to know better. Perhaps it is time for her to find another career. A reporter should report the news just as a police officer should enforce the law: objectively and without bias. She was not sent on that story to become the judge, jury and executioner. The producers at FOX 4 should have quashed this story before it ever hit the air, and shares a lions share of the blame. But I fear it got the desired result, which was to stir up viewers and improve ratings. She was probably told to take a short vacation while things simmer down. Hopefully when she comes back she will change her ways, but I'm not holding my breath.

Rebecca Aguilar is a worthless parasite...Shes been a sore on the ass of KDFW for a long time. I hope they rid themselves of her. Maybe they should also rid themselves of that Becky Oliver as well, she engages in the same tactics when it comes to "reporting".

On another note: James Walton should be commended for standing up for his property and his life. The man is a war vet for christsakes, you show them respect. Im proud I live in a country where I have the right to keep and bear arms.

Sarah, as a person who has both been shot at and has had to defend himself, it is a difficult for most human beings to deal with taking another person's life (or even physically harming them). You find yourself questioning if there was anything else you could have done to protect your life and done less harm to the other individual. You could not be a truly sane human being and feel differently. I hope you never have to face this kind of situation.

a camera crew ambushing the elderly is not necessary under any circumstance. i hope he sues the fuck out of this network and this anchor chickhead.

jack jett

Go Rebecca Aguilar!!!
She did great on that story with the man shooting the burglar. The only reason I watch Fox 4 is because of her. When she was suspended I was so mad. How could Fox 4 suspend her?! They are lucky to have such a great reporter. If Fox 4 ever got rid of her, tons and tons of people would stop watching Fox. Without her, Fox wouldn't be as good as it is today. In the story she did she was not ambushing the man. She was doing what every reporter does. Fox should never get rid of her! She has done a lot for Fox in her past years. I know a lot of people that only watch Fox because of her. If I was the manager at Fox 4, I would be thankful for what she has done for that station and I would try to keep her as long as I could.

Go Rebecca Aguilar!!!!!

The Dallas Morning News article seems ambiguous as to whether the burglars broke into the junkyard or the home. The police are quoted that the man had the right to defend his business. I think 2 or 3 pit bulls or better fencing would have solved this problem and probably prevented it from ever happening. I'm just glad I'm not a mailman or a meter reader in Texas.

Mark has it exactly correct. This reporter didn't air this piece on her own. She was sent there by an editor, followed there by a producer and at least one photographer - all of whom could have stopped her actions and reminded her that she is a reporter and not a judge.

Someone helped edit the piece. The station's managing editor watched the piece before it ever hit air.

It's a nest they got there in that newsroom. Someone (Murdoch) needs to get in there and clean it out before the entire value of that franchise is destroyed by the liberal wackjobs they've hired.

I'm wondering why Aguilar didn't interview the families of the dead criminals and grill them heartlessly also?

I think next time I'm in west Dallas I will drop by Mr. Walton's place of business and buy him a new gun.

God bless America!

Hey, Why does the buck stop with Rebecca? Someone had to approve the story, don't forget that. If she is fired, it should not stop until who ever the production manager is goes also. Rebecca works for FOX, she does what she is told. If she had not been following orders, she would not have been on the story to begine with.
WE have all had days where things got all jacked up, give her a break. Maybe she made a bad judgement call, but so did the front office.
What about all of the good things she has done. She took on the foster care system, and has made it safer for the children of Texas. You have to give her credit for standing up to agencies that no one else would. After all the years and all the positive things she had done, she deserves another chance.
I would rather see someone who is showing feelings than a robot of the media. Maybe we don't agree with her. However, she has the right to her opinion. "Freedom of the Press"
I don't think anyone deserves to loose their job over one interview.
I still respect her right to express herself. I will watch her again, maybe on another station.
Pam Gray

Hello Moderator, Don't mind me while I politely tell Pontificator to go to hell.
Thanks.

Holy shit y'all - check out the front page over on DMN website. They done gone after our Jim!

ReporterX

I beg to differ. This 'debacle' is about her poor judgement magnified by her trademark agressiveness.

I havent seen many outraged posts about a
"news director that doesnt like her."

A bigger issue is the possiblity that this story is a peek at the prism through which she views the world. If so, then she is waaaay out of touch with the overwhelming majority of KDFW's market.

Aguilar... was just named one of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists' Broadcast Journalists of the Year...

Geez, I'd hate to see what the rest of them act like, if she's the pick of the litter.

No one expects moral or ethical conduct from broadcast journalists any more, but Rebecca Aguilar is a billboard for the sort of narcissistic, infantile and sociopathic wretch that populates the field.

Pity we can't exchange her for one of the burglars.

Sarah said:

Why does anyone still watch that channel's "news"?

That channel isn't any different from any other channel, or from the networks. Look at Dan Rather (still working on-camera despite being caught flagrante delicto pulling a fraud) or Peter Arnett (whose career is one fraud after another). Look at what the same kind of "journalism" this airheaded bimbo pulled here brought Mike Wallace and Morley Safer -- a cabinet full of awards. The whole TV News business is rotten. The Fox network stations may be more rotten than some others ("And now we take you to the seen of the car crash before all the blood has dried!") but fundamentally they're all the same.

I fired my TV in 1998. After years of impotently raging at it, I realized I really had had control all along. Not long after that, I binned my newspaper subscription, also.

Now I take an active role and get myself the news I need. It has also reduced my exposure to banal and insipid advertising.

(Of course, this has not been perfectly successful... I'm here reading this story about the sort of empty-headed set of hairdo and capped teeth I thought I'd never see again, eh).

If you want to write to Ms. Aguilar's employers, they are

News director
Maria.Barrs@foxtv.com

Vice President and General Manager
Kathy.Saunders@foxtv.com

What Mr. Walton did is absolutely legal in California, despite our gun control laws. The law is very, very clear - if someone breaks into your home, you can kill them without committing a crime.

California Penal Code, Section 197 "197.
Homicide is also justifiable when committed by any person in any of the following cases:

1. When resisting any attempt to murder any person, or to commit a felony, or to do some great bodily injury upon any person; or,

2. When committed in defense of habitation, property, or person, against one who manifestly intends or endeavors, by violence or surprise, to commit a felony, or against one who manifestly intends and endeavors, in a violent, riotous or tumultuous manner, to enter the habitation of another for the purpose of offering violence to any person therein; or,

3. When committed in the lawful defense of such person, or of a wife or husband, parent, child, master, mistress, or servant of such person, when there is reasonable ground to apprehend a design to commit a felony or to do some great bodily injury, and imminent danger of such design being accomplished; but such person, or the person in whose behalf the defense was made, if he was the assailant or engaged in mutual combat, must really and in good faith have endeavored to decline any further struggle before the homicide was committed; or,

4. When necessarily committed in attempting, by lawful ways and means, to apprehend any person for any felony committed, or in lawfully suppressing any riot, or in lawfully keeping and preserving the peace."

California Penal Code, Section 198.5 "198.5. Any person using force intended or likely to cause death or great bodily injury within his or her residence shall be presumed to have held a reasonable fear of imminent peril of death or great bodily injury to self, family, or a member of the household when that force is used against another person, not a member of the family or household, who unlawfully and forcibly enters or has unlawfully and forcibly entered the residence and the person using the force knew or had reason to believe that an unlawful and forcible entry occurred."

California Penal Code, Section 198.5 "199. The homicide appearing to be justifiable or excusable, the person indicted must, upon his trial, be fully acquitted and discharged."

TRANSLATION 197 - In California, the use of deadly force to protect oneself, someone else, ones property, ones place of dwelling. 198.5 - Using deadly force in ones home against an intruder is manifestly justifiable. 199 - Given 197 and 198.5, you will either be acquitted or the judge will immediately overturn the verdict.

Another option the old man could have tried instead of deadly force is an electric fence.

Why is the burden upon him to buy and install an electric fence? Sure it's an option, and if the old man cares enough about thieves then he should go for it. But I don't see that he has any moral duty to try to avoid lethal force in the situation as it's been described.

He should have shot _HER_ for assaulting his personal space. Self-defense.

EXODUS Chapter 22 verse 2

"If the thief is caught while breaking in and is struck so that he dies, there will be no bloodguiltiness on his account."

We are supposed to protect ourselves in this type of situation. This is only at night and doesn't apply during the day.

Someone said he should have gotten some mean guard dogs or pit bulls to "scare" the burglars. That's a dumb idea, considering the burglars could just feed the dogs meat marinated in poison, or worse, they could get loose and maul another kid to death.

I'm so sick and tired of you touchy-feely liberals. Your bleeding hearts have lost touch with your brains.

When it comes down to it, my life is worth more to me than some low-life burglar/rapist/murderer/(insert scum name of choice here). Why should my family have to suffer because a meth-addict needed to steal something to get a fix and I just happen to be in the way? What gives someone the right to take my life? Their poor childhood? Their addiction? What gives you the right to tell me I cannot defend myself?

"I'm just glad I'm not a mailman or a meter reader in Texas."

Do mailmen or meter readers typically climb chain link fences in the dead of night? For that matter- there are thousands of meter readers and mailmen in Texas, how many have you heard of shot by trigger happy Texans? And you really want to question whether THAT would make the news with anti-gun zealots like Aguilar running around?

Maybe the burglar doesn't really need to be shot and killed. Often, there are less final alternatives.

But, here's the big point:

The individual in question voluntarily *chose* to break into someone's property, with the intent of theft (and possibly more).

By making that particular choice, he implicitly accepted every consequence of that action that might occur, up to and including being shot.

If he didn't want to risk being killed in the process of a burglary, he had the option of choosing not to commit that burglary. Once he made that choice, every bad thing that happened to him was a direct result of that choice.

Makes you wonder why these reporters (like Aguilar) don't address that part of the issue.

Pontificator- Moral relativism is the cowards way of debating. As the others have pointed out this poor man has been burglarized 42 times in one year. That averages out to 3.5 burglaries per month. Do you understand the immense pressure that Mr. Walton was under? Do you have any idea what it is like to feel utter hopelessness when you are victmised repeatedly? Rebecca Aguilar is a self agrandising fool. She harassed and badgered a man who has had to use deadly force twice in succession. I hope that none of you ever have to go through the hell that this poor man is going through.

I love that Pontificator is so gung-ho for this guy to take on all the responsibility and liability and work of keeping 3 guard dogs around, and 'better' fencing (glad you're able to judge from wherever you are, but I doubt he can go much higher than 8 feet). For him, all the responsibility for keeping the criminal alive falls on the homeowner, and the criminal is instantly just a lowly scavenger getting 'junk' from this guy's obviously worthless business. The homeowner really should just vacate the premises and turn it over to the next person willing to steal it from him. Man, life could be so sweet if we all listened to Pontificator.

I'm glad you don't work in Texas either, and I'm glad I'm not one of your kids getting attacked while you ponder your next retroactive, non-lethal move to respect the criminal's rights.

>I'm just glad I'm not a mailman
>or a meter reader in Texas.

Nice fearmongering. I haven't seen any stories about mailmen or meter-readers getting shot in Texas. It certainly doesn't seem to be an epidemic. Care to enlighten us, Pontificator?

Now if those mailmen and meter-readers forcefully break into someones home with intent to rob and/or kill the rightful occupants, I imagine that they might be in danger.

To those that cry for the criminals get real. If the owner did have dogs and they bit the criminals they would sue the owner. If the owner did not shoot the criminals, he could very well be dead himself. Imagine that, the victim is dead and nobody ever cries foul! Yet defend yourself from an attack in your own home and the loonies get all over you. Why aren't you blaming the criminals?

Thank you Mr. Walton. Because of your actions you have possible saved someone else's life from these dirt bags, and no telling how many future crimes he prevented from happening because the dirt bags got what they deserved. Swift and permanent justice!!!

Pontificator says, "I'm just glad I'm not a mailman or a meter reader in Texas."

Just last week I shot the meter reader. She didn't ask my permission before probing that meter.

A couple of months ago I shot the mailman. He got a little too close to my car. The new mailman keeps his distance just fine.

But I keep my assault rifle handy, just in case.

Pontificator,

You seem to think that it's the home/business-owner's responsibility to make it *impossible* for anyone to break into his home/business.

A home/business-owner shouldn't have to go the expense and trouble (not to mention upkeep and maintenance) to put up an electric fence or board guard dogs before it's okay in your eyes to start shooting when people invade his home.

Indeed. . . you should ask yourself. . . what if he had done such things? Would the shootings have then been justified in your eyes? Or would you still feel that he still had work to do to secure his business and home and therefore should have just called the police and watched thieves make off with more of his property?

It's amazing to me that people want to blame the person being *robbed* here. The victim here is not the thieves. The victim is the man who was being robbed, and defended himself from behind his eight-foot-wall.

So, again, how far is enough? How far should I have to go to put up barriers and warnings to people who wish to do me harm before I'm *allowed* (in your eyes) to simply defend myself and my property?

Thanks for the outlet Unfairpark, I'm here after reading this on Instapundit. Seeing so many opposed to this reporter makes it for me. They've lived in a bubble of elitist arrogance for too long. A load of humility can only help.

If Pontificator wants to make burglar's lives safer, let him provide the measures that he deems appropriate, and accept liability if they fail.

His half-measures, the police, failed, repeatedly.

And no, the old man is not a danger to mail carriers or meter readers. Neither group breaks in at night.

Of course, since pontificator thinks that burglars should have free reign, perhaps he'll post a sign to that effect on his residence so burglars can practice their trade in safety.

What? He's unwilling to protect burglars with his stuff?

Jim wrote:

If you believe he should have been wrong criminally, it is your option to work for more gun control legislation - or consider moving to a state like California, New York, or Illinois, where they have stronger gun controls (and, of course, a much lower rate of crime involving guns, right? Oh yeah, not really.)

I can't speak for New York or Illinois, but what Walton did would have been completely LEGAL in California. We have a "Castle doctrine" law that says if someone breaks into your home and you kill him it's presumed to be justified.

Texas just passed it's castle doctrine law this year, SB 378, passed 133 to 13. It went into effect Sept 1.

Good for him. Regardless of if what they were trying to steal was junk, it was HIS junk. He had every right to shoot them. If these perps died of their wounds, then so be it. Maybe if more people would shoot and kill intruders, there would be less of them. I say good for him and that reporter is a scumbag. He is the victim. He should have been better protected. Two less perps wasting taxpayer money. She should be fired for that tasteless piece of what she called journalism.

The Dallas Morning News article seems ambiguous as to whether the burglars broke into the junkyard or the home.

It was the home, not the grounds.

The police are quoted that the man had the right to defend his business. I think 2 or 3 pit bulls

or better fencing would have solved this problem and probably prevented it from ever happening. I'm just glad I'm not a mailman or a meter reader in Texas.

Yeah. We have dead meter readers and mailmen all over the place here.

Idiot.

Pontificator you are the worst kind of jackal. This man has killed two people in a short span of time - something I'm sure he'd rather not have done - but what do you do? You trash him. Your grindingly insipid 'suggestions' are an insult to free people. Look, we shouldn't have to adjust our 'living arrangements' to make life easier on criminals. That is just insane. Your comments are no better than Aguilar's ambush - just more cowardly. At least she faced him when she trashed him.

"I think 2 or 3 pit bulls or better fencing would have solved this problem and probably prevented it from ever happening. I'm just glad I'm not a mailman or a meter reader in Texas."

Pontificator:

Your ignorance of life in Texas as well as the dangers associated with dealing with such thugs as the ones he shot down is very pronounced. No one is running around guns a-blazing at every random unknown individual. Furthermore, in this state the government has actually acted to protect the rights of its law-abiding citizens to defend themselves, unlike other states which have acted to protect the rights of criminals to burgle, beat and rape without fear of their victims being able to fight back. And if you do live in one of those states and happen to find a way to keep a weapon to defend yourself, well, you'd better hope you never have to use it, because the full weight of the law will come down on you. In Texas, the law-abiding are defended and the criminals are dead, and we like it that way.

Perhaps he should just have buried the bodies under the junkyard. Just shift about a dozen junked cars on top of the graves and nobody would ever have known.

Neither one of those thiefs would be dead if they hadn't violated a law abiding citizen's property.

They made the choice to be there. They knew that they risked being arrested, injured or killed by way of their actions.

I don't shed a tear for fools such as they were. The world will not miss them.

Was there a story? Yes. Was this story handled correctly by Fox and Rebbecca? Absolutely not. Fire her....the producer responsible....I watched the piece on Youtube and her actions were beyond shameful. She was beyond insulting...

"Are you trigger happy?"

Mr. Walton cried clearly shaken by the entire experience. Unbelievable.

It comes down to if you believe in the so called "Castle Doctrine" or not. Those that are arguing that the guy was within his rights and those arguing otherwise are not arguing the same thing.

Killing someone else is a horrendous thing, neither side says otherwise. It is simply a matter of when you can.

In some sense one can almost always disengage - especially in hindsight and not under the stress of having someone break into your house. Maybe a 10 foot brick wall with razor wire would have stopped them (and if not - then is it OK to shoot assuming a 12 foot wall *would* have stopped them?). Maybe you see "just a life" and, like many countries nowadays, pass laws that you can only return in like amounts of lethality - two guys with swords battling it out is legal, the burglar with a sword and the homeowner with a gun has the homeowner go to jail (after all - they are both life equally deserving of continuing to exist). In this case we find that there is always some greater level of care one could have given to avoid killing the aggressor.

Then we have those of us (myself included) who believe that one has the right to defend their life against aggressors and someone breaking and entering your home is such a case. In a large sense we *do* say that, in this situation, the homeowner *does* have a higher value to his life and is able to defend it. That the homeowner is withing is right to defend his castle (his lively hood, his sanctuary) with lethal force and to a large extent someone breaking and entering defaults their right to survive the encounter - that is part of the cost/benefit analysis in doing so. Plus, given that if someone has forcibly broken into your protected residence (and I use that term in a broad sense) it is mostly safe to assume they are there for nefarious purposes that if you wait until they are raping your wife or shooting at you it is too late to use lethal force to defend oneself.

I also find statements such as "I'm just glad I'm not a mailman or a meter reader in Texas" amusing both because no one here is suggesting that they be shot and the law has been around more than long enough that if it *were* a danger there would already be tons dead. It's kinda like every time we seek to expand the Right to Carry law where I am from (Tennessee) we have the opponents declare the this time it will be the wild west with hundreds killed per day. If they *truly* believed that to be the main issue then experience would have them supporters of the law - as such people who use excuses like that are either dishonest or incompetent. My general feeling is "incompetent" as they tend to be so strongly sided with that political stance that nothing will sway them (dishonest assumes one know they are deceiving).

I'm staggered that anyone would be so myopic as to say that a burglar who was trying to steal "junk" from someone's home and business should not be held accountable, as if the personal threat of home-invasion can be gauged in degrees. I'm completely at ease with the idea that criminals in Dallas be given a clear message that they will be held accountable on-the-spot for imperiling the lives and property of taxpaying, law-abiding citizens. How dare Rebecca Aguilar be so vile to a man who has faced a terrifying invasion of his home and personal property twice in one month? Mr. Walton did not ask to be robbed, so why should he have to be vilified by the press? Next thing you know, folks like Ms. Aguilar will be organizing unions to fight for criminal rights. The deck is already stacked in favor of criminal trespassers, so it's obscene they should have the media to plead their case. Aguilar should be fired, full stop, and Fox should issue a very public apology to Mr. Walton.

News is about audience. They sell audience to advertisers.

Here they simply misjudged what works in Texas. Even the Texas soap opera women were mad.

Soap opera women rule the news, local and national.

So she got suspended to mollify the Texans.

If you lose soap opera women, your news business is out of business.

They say a conservative is a liberal who's been mugged. I guess Pontificator has been lucky so far.

Don't you hate that conservative Fox network that always stand up for gun-rights?

Life, liberty, and property, Pontificator.

Freedom is a three-legged school, and the refusal to enforce one topples the structure. No one's right to life supersedes another's property rights.

Many think they're on the moral high ground when they defend a thief's right to life. Nothing could be further from the truth.

Shows what a pack of scumweasels the National Association of Hispanic Journalists is, that they're proud of this thing.' Of course, they ARE journalists, so "scumweasel" might just be a compliment.

Pontificator, would you mind posting your real name and address so I can send it on to the local medium-security prison? I'll be sure to add a note that you are opposed to the idea of violent defense of your own property. I'm sure you will relish the idea to show us all how it should be done, and put your principles into action.

An "Hispanic", "Woman", "Journalist."
That about says it all!

Yeah pretty much Rrrrebeca Agiiiilllllar does not deserve her job here in a major market such as DFW. After watching the video, I concluded that it was rude, unprofessional and just outright disrespectful to do such a thing like this. When a man is kind enough to do a one on one and is clearly upset because he is crying, you don't ask him "are you trigger happy?". It was an idiotic segment done by a person with no class whatsoever

There are so many managers at that station that not one of them viewed the piece or questioned whether it should air? Reporters are required to call in during the day to update producers and tell them what they got, what video they have, how the story is shaping up. The video is also at their fingertips. No one watched it beforehand? Did the news director suspend any of those managers? How many stories has Becky Oliver done where she ambushes people? Why is it ok for her to ask the tough questions, get a ton of negative publicity yet she gets a raise and a 4-day workweek? Quite obvious what the difference is. ''We report, You decide''.

Aguilar can shove it up her a%s and Fox should fire her. She was trying to make this man out to be a murderer, not be objective.

If Aquilar was home alone and someone was breaking into her backyard and she had a gun and the police had not responded until after the fact 42 PREVIOUS TIMES, do you think she wouldn't use it?

It makes me proud to read these stories about my home state and know that the laws back up women and 70 year old senior citizens over potential murderers and rapists. It also makes me proud to know Texans will stand up to nitwits like her.

This woman deserves everything she gets. She has no professionalism and obviously no taste, tact or brains. I hope I never see this pathetic example of humanity on the television again.

Pontificator - "I think 2 or 3 pit bulls"

And if the pit bulls tore these burglars apart???? Same result different method. The man called the police 42 times to no avail. He did what he needed to do for his safety and protection of his property. How about condemming the truly guilty parties here...the damn thiefs!

You know, crimes such as burglary, robbery, etc. are very dangerous. Texas law in cases such as Mr. Walton's does allow for the use of lethal force against burglars/intruders. The burden for burglar safety is not on the shoulders of the intended victim, but on the shoulders of those breaking the law. Those men would not have been shot had they not been breaking the law within the confines of Mr. Walton's business.

Pontificator spewed the following idiocy:

"I'm just glad I'm not a mailman or a meter reader in Texas."

Uh, mailmen and meter readers don't have anything to worry about, but buglers do. What's with all of this stupid hand-wringing over a couple of people who's absence leaves the world a better place?

Yeah, liberalism IS a mental disorder...

"Anonymous", is that you Rebecca???!

Got a little time on your hands these days, eh?

Pontificator wrote:

"I think 2 or 3 pit bulls or better fencing would have solved this problem and probably prevented it from ever happening."

Perhaps Mr Walton was being merciful in shooting the burglars? Have you ever seen the mess that a vicious dog an make of a person? I have. Shooting was a blessing for these guys!

The problem with Rebecca Aguilar's interview is that she is not uncovering the facts of the matter but advocating a point of view. It's pretty clear this is a hostile interrogation and that she is accusing the poor old man of being the aggressor. It's just nuts for a "reporter" to ask a 70-year old man if he's trigger happy when he's had to defend himself against home invaders plaguing him dozens of times, the last two times with deadly force. Aguilar is acting like she's a union steward for criminals, lobbying for safer working conditions for burglars.

Likewise, the earlier posters comments that the 70-year-old man should put up an electric fence, buy dogs, or get into another line of business are typical liberal elitist nonsense: If they steal your bread, eat cake! Many poor people can't afford elaborate defenses to soothe your liberal conscience. It's also morally obtuse to place the burden of keeping thieves safe on their victims. The risk of crime should be placed entirely on the criminal. No risk of crime should be placed on victims, as liberals demand. Your home is your home and should be inviolate from predators, even if it be a junkyard that liberals sneer at down their prejudiced noses.

Good riddance to the two scumbags that burglarized that poor man they got exactly what they deserved...... they had not business climbing over his fence and are now dead for their actions...... Sleep well sir you have done the state of Texas a great service....

As for you Ms. Aguilar I will gladly lead the charge to hound you from every station you try to get a job at......

Anyone who's ever watched KDFW knows that, like most of the Dallas media, they're a bunch of proto-liberals with an agenda, Murdoch be damned. (Murdoch isn't conservative, either -- he supports whatever sells, because he's a businessman.)

And I'm sick of the arguments that the reporter was doing what she was told -- that justification disappeared at Nuremburg in 1946 -- and "attack dog" / "gotcha" journalism has always been popular amongst the Jackals Of The Press.

And as for the Pore Helpless Criminals: Texas is an armed society. Anyone who breaks into a place knows that, and knows that deadly defense of live and property is justified under the law. THEY KNOW THAT -- yet still they do it?

And then the media, who generally disagree with the above situation, try to undermine it all the time, with interviews like Aguilar's.

Kudos to Mr. Walton, who did society a favor. Which is more than can be said for the media.

This is specific to the people who have posted that this man should not have protected himself because nothing is worth someone’s life. You are correct there is nothing in my home that is worth my life or the life of my loved ones but let me be perfectly honest. Once you make a decision to be a bugler you have decided that your life is worth what ever you are going in that home after. Even if it is a 2 dollar bill that is a decision they made. If you break in and are shot you do not have anyone to blame for thinking your life was worthless but you. As for Ms. Aguilar, I consider her trash and hope that she finds herself in the same boat as one of your local politicians did recently. He voted against the castle doctrine but had to shoot someone who was robbing the home he was building. Maybe someone will push a microphone in her face and ask if she is some gun happy nut job if she defended a loved ones life.

Ms. Aguilar should be permanently relieved of her job. Her total lack of compassion is unacceptable.